The Great Fall Get Together

[kcflanders]

Hi Al,
I'm going to try to make it to Vermont again this year. I posted a question for you in the photography forum. I hope I get a chance to meet a few of you this year. Have you selected any potential sites for the Barton area earlier in the week? Will you be staying into the night at Noyes pond?

[autzig]

I will be staying with Carol in Barton but I don't have any sites picked out. She knows the area far better than I so I will defer to her judgment about locations. Noyes Pond may be a good location. I'll do a Google Earth search to see what I can find there. I find it to be a great scouting tool.

Al

[autzig]

I used Google Earth to scout Noyes Pond and it looks like it would be a great place to photograph the Milky Way. We could get star reflections in the water if it is calm, there is a mountain in the background which can block light pollution and it looks like we can have easy access to the shoreline. As importantly, I don't see any sources of significant ambient light generation.

Al

[Karma2x]

Hi all,
I am finalizing my annual VT foliage trip and a night-time galaxy shoot at Noyes Pond seems like something I would love to get to.

A question for NEK dwellers ...trying to secure a house for the week of Oct 4th and I might already be too late. If anybody wants to make some suggestions for a weekly rental in the Barton/Westmore area that would be much appreciated. My google-fu does not seem to be working well.

[autzig]

I don't know what you are looking for, but I often use Vacation Rentals by Owner (VBRO). Here's a link to available houses near Barton. We've rented places through VBRO and have always been very happy.

http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/vermont/barton

Hope you can find a place and join us.

Al

[bogey456]

Hi All,
Depending on the timing, I would like to join you at Noyes pond on the 3rd for the reunion. Do you know about what time you should be arriving. I will be in the area and would like to meet you all.

Thanks,Al



































































de

[kcflanders]

KC......please let me know what I can help you with in the Barton area. When do you think you will be there?

Carol

Hi Carol,
Do you have any ideas for Milky Way sites near Barton?

[ctyanky]

All: we are expecting to get more reunion information posted in the coming week. Carol and I are working on this so stay tuned!!!

[Utah Baker]

We have booked an Inn in Warren Vt. for Oct 4th -10th. The cooler weather we are having here in Utah is getting me very excited, hoping to get out today and check out the higher elevations here locally. Conditions here are ripe here for a fantastic season, with record rain thru the spring and summer months. Hoping to enjoy an incredible season both here and in Vermont. Bring it on!

[Utah Baker]

Don't know a thing about them, but their website looked fairly decent. The Pine Crest Cabins and Motel. Maybe Carol is familiar with them, they where decently priced and still opened.

[From_the_NEK]

Al- can you describe optimal locations for the Milky Way photo shoot? Obviously we want to be far away from "city light" but are there other things that we should consider? Ponds? Mountains? Would shooting from the top of one of the gap roads be a good idea?

There are some important considerations. First, we will want a location where we have an unobstructed view of the southern sky as the Milky Way will be located in the sky, a little west of south. The next consideration is that we want a location that would make an interesting photo regardless of the night sky. A small pond lined with trees in peak color would be nice. Mountains beyond that would be great so long as they are not so close as to obstruct a lot of the sky but high enough to block the light pollution from places beyond.

If it faced south, Job's Pond strikes me as the kind of location that would be perfect. So a place similar to that would be great. If the water is flat, we can get reflections of the stars and the Milky Way. One of the gap roads could be good. It just depends on whether there is an interesting foreground available.

For a little inspiration, you can see some of my night photos at: http://www.goldimagesphoto.com/Portfolio/After-Dark/ or http://www.goldimagesphoto.com/Portfolio/New/.

You can also see a slide show of my night photos, including a timelapse video here: http://www.goldimagesphoto.com/Night-Sky

I will be posting info about the timing of my trip to Vermont and potential dates and general locations for a night photo outing.

Al

I'm really hoping that I'm able to meet up for one of these events. The night shoot really intrigues me and I've been doing a little research on Milky Way-pond locations using Google Earth and its time slider. The time slider allows you to see the sunrises and sunsets as well as the stars and the Milky Way and you can see the how they progress across the sky minute by minute. It appears that the Milky Way will be more SSE between 9 and 11pm on October 4th.
Here is the view from the North Beach of Lake Willoughby on October 4th at 10:30pm. The waning 1/4 moon is scheduled to rise at 11:48 that night.


Lake Willoughby will have light pollution along its shore. However, nearby is Long Pond which would have very little light pollution at the boat launch at the north end of the pond. There is an island in the pond as well. However, as with most ponds in the area, evergreens ring the majority of edge of the pond and are the small island. The hillside SE of the pond typically has colorful trees.
Here it is in summer: Dock_LongPond by Tim_NEK, on Flickr

[Utah Baker]

Just looked at the 10 day forecast , showing rain and clouds both Sat & Sun, next week. Keep your fingers crossed!